


some call it foolish (guess i'll call it art)

by youreanovelidea



Series: we got lost in each other (cause time wasn't catching us) [1]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Gen, POV Nami (One Piece), Set after 1x08, Worst Of You - Maisie Peters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-24
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-09-26 05:25:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,316
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17135807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/youreanovelidea/pseuds/youreanovelidea
Summary: “With Buggy. How did you know to use the cannon?” she clarifies.“Luffy told me,” Zoro says, returning his attention to the sky.Nami frowns and shakes her head. “What? No, he didn’t.”“Yeah, he did. You just weren’t listening.”(or, Nami sees but doesn't understand, Zoro tries to explain, and Luffy sleeps)





	some call it foolish (guess i'll call it art)

Nami is entirely unsure of how she ended up in this situation. All she wanted was the map, but now there is a boy made out of rubber trapped in a cage and a green-haired swordsman bleeding out in front of her and an entire crew of pirates, including their apparently choppable captain, eager to kill them. 

The Buggy Pirates are cheering and Luffy is screaming about how stabbing someone from behind is unfair. 

(Nami frowns at that because since when have pirates ever cared about anything like fairness?)

But she can see the way Luffy is fighting against the ropes that surround his chest, securing his arms behind his back. He twists and twists, his mouth pressed into a thin line as his gaze focuses on the man on his knees in the center of everything. 

She wonders who these people are, but doesn’t have the time to figure it out because there’s a sword pointed in her direction and Captain Buggy’s eyes are gleaming with an arrogant sort of pride that makes her skin crawl. 

“Big Nose!” Luffy shouts and everything freezes. 

Nami looks at him in horror as Buggy’s features contort into a rage-filled expression and the rest of the pirates fall silent. 

Buggy sends a disconnected hand, knife clutched in his fingers, straight into Luffy’s face and Nami’s mouth drops in terror, sure that she’s about to watch him die. 

The swordsman straightens, his body automatically leaning towards the cage. “Luffy,” he screams, voice tense and filled with something raw that she can’t identify. 

And then Luffy is lifting his head, mouth stretched into a wide grin as he holds the blade between his teeth. The knife shatters, broken pieces falling to the ground, and Luffy’s eyes harden. His voice is steady and filled with something dangerous—something that makes Nami’s blood run cold—when he says, “Buggy. I will kick your ass.”

Nami steps back involuntarily, wide-eyed and stricken. She doesn’t understand because Luffy is tied up and locked in a cage and, for all intents and purposes, should be completely helpless. But he’s not acting helpless. Instead, his expression is determined and firm, the planes of his face promising retribution for the damage done to his swordsman. 

Buggy laughs and Nami knows that she should be terrified when he promises that all three of them will die there. 

And she _is._ Really. But for some reason, even as she whispers, “It’s no use. It’s all over,” she feels something calm settling the rattling of her bones because Luffy is laughing too, hard enough to turn his cheeks red. 

“I refuse to die,” the boy made of rubber says simply. 

But it’s _not_ simple. Words can’t save you from knives and swords and guns. Nami knows that better than anyone. 

She thinks of pink hair and tangerines and flinches, her eyes locked on Luffy. 

“Run, Zoro,” Luffy yells, expression devoid of fear. 

Zoro pales and Nami stares in shock, gaze flitting between the swordsman and his captain. 

“Wait! He came here to save you. What are you gonna do?” she asks, and she’s not sure why she’s arguing because she doesn’t understand, but that’s okay because apparently she isn’t the one who is supposed to. 

Luffy says nothing, simply smiling at them calmly. 

She doesn’t see Zoro’s face change, but she sees the way his shoulders straighten and lose their tension. 

“Understood,” the green-haired man says quietly. 

And Nami wants to scream because _what, what do you understand, what do you know that I don’t?_

But there’s no time to try to figure it out because Buggy is shooting forward, knives raised, as Zoro stands up, fending off the attacks easily. 

Nami holds her breath as Zoro slices through Buggy’s chest and darts past him. Buggy chuckles, body parts splitting away from each other harmlessly, and the sound makes her clench her jaw, but Zoro isn’t listening to the red-nosed pirate, too busy sprinting towards the cannon.

Luffy is still grinning and Nami starts to realize that she somehow managed to miss an entire conversation, even though she hasn’t looked away from the scene once. 

Everything is kind of a blur after that—shaking hands lighting a match, a white dog, collapsed buildings, and beast tamers and bloody wounds. 

Later, when the dust has settled and, to her astonishment, they’ve managed to win against the Buggy Pirates, she climbs onto her boat while Zoro and Luffy climb onto theirs. 

She sails a few feet in front of them, careful to keep them close behind. After all, she’s already learned that Zoro isn’t the best at directions and who knows where they’ll end up if they aren’t careful. 

Not that she cares. She’s just with them temporarily. She still refuses to join a crew of pirates after all. 

++

She doesn’t know how long they’ve been on the sea, but it’s dark out, the only source of light coming from the moon hanging high in the sky. 

There’s a rope connecting her boat to their smaller one since they’ve decided to let the waves take them where they will. At least for now. Nami knows that there are several islands nearby and they’ll hit at least one of them within the next few days. 

She kneels down and peers over the edge of the boat, arms crossed and resting on the railing as she stares at the other two.

Zoro is awake, sitting against the boat’s wooden side and staring at the stars. Luffy is curled up next to him, sound asleep with his knees pulled to his chest. 

“How did you know?” she asks when her curiosity finally gets to be too much for her to ignore. 

The green-haired man looks over at her, raising one eyebrow in question. 

“With Buggy. How did you know to use the cannon?” she clarifies. 

“Luffy told me,” Zoro says, returning his attention to the sky. 

Nami frowns and shakes her head. “What? No, he didn’t.” 

“Yeah, he did. You just weren’t listening.” 

Her eye twitches at that and she barely resists the urge to throw something at him. “He told you to run. How does that translate to taking over a cannon?” 

Zoro shrugs, looking unconcerned by her disbelief. “Dunno. I just knew what he meant. Besides, Luffy doesn’t run.” 

Nami stares at him, brow furrowed. She was expecting some sort of secret code or hand signal, but apparently there wasn’t one. “You just knew,” she repeats flatly. 

“Yeah.” 

Before she can say anything else, Luffy rolls over until his head is pillowed on Zoro’s lap, his arm slung lazily across the swordsman’s legs. 

“Cold,” Luffy murmurs, burying his face in Zoro’s thigh and curling closer with a shiver. 

Nami blinks, then looks at Zoro, waiting for him to push the younger man aside. 

But he doesn’t. 

He just sighs and grumbles, “I told you we should find a blanket somewhere, dumbass” as he drops one hand to rest on Luffy’s head, the other reaching for the straw hat, disturbed by Luffy’s movement, and tucking it safely under his knee. 

_Oh._

Nami thinks she might understand now. 

She watches Zoro’s fingers absently brush dark hair away from Luffy’s forehead and finds herself biting back a smile. 

“Here,” she says, feeling generous. She tosses one of her blankets over and Zoro catches it in surprise before his expression fades into understanding. 

“Welcome to the crew,” he says knowingly as he tucks the fabric around Luffy’s shoulders. The motion is far more gentle than anything she ever thought him capable of. 

She clicks her tongue and looks away from his amused smirk. “I’m not part of your stupid crew,” she says stubbornly. 

He chuckles—low in his throat—and tilts his head back against the side of the boat, closing his eyes. “You will be.”

She doesn’t have a response to that, so she doesn’t say anything. 

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first work in a series of Luffy/Zoro one shots. I just started One Piece a few days ago and I literally don't understand how you can't ship these two. They're precious and beautiful and wholesome and I love them. 
> 
> Anyway, most of these will take place as extra/add-on scenes after canon arcs and episodes. 
> 
> I'm writing them as I go through the show, so I'm looking forward to more prompts as I watch! :) 
> 
> Comments and kudos make my day. Thank you all for being supportive readers. You're genuinely the best.


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